Adventures of the last Wild Dragon

The sound of gentle knocking on a door awoke both Violet and Luna from their slumber. They let out simulations groans of displeasure at having been awoken like that, still they began the process of disentangling their limbs from one another as their minds properly awoke.

Then the knocking sounded again, this time accompanied by a refined and elegant voice carrying a maturity that spoke of long years caring for others.

"My Ladies, may I enter?"

With a grumble Violet spoke up without thinking too much, not currently caring that she was not wearing anything at all, having dismissed her kimono at some point during the night. "Yeah, sure." Came her still slightly tired voice.

Narry a moment later their was a gentle click and the door swung open, through the now open doorway walked in an older Snow Leopardkin woman. She was wearing a classical maid outfit, reaching down to both her ankles and her wrists.

Her hair was white, though naturally white and not from advanced age whilst faint smile lines adorned the corners of her mouth. Her piercing blue eyes seemed to glint with amusement as she observed the mighty saviours of Syan.

Violet was currently sat up with the blankets pooled around her waist, her chest bared to the world as she lazily stretched her arms up above her head, her hair all frizzled up from her sleep.

Besides her looking slightly embarrassed was Luna, her own white hair was also slightly frazzled yet she at least was clothed unlike Violet.

The maid smiled at the two then dropped into a curtsy as she spoke once again. "Good morning my ladies. I have come to wake you for breakfast, the king has invited the two of you to attend his table this morning." She paused then, glancing at the disheveled, dirty and generally unkept appearance of both girls before she continued with a wry tone.

"Shall i prepare a bath for the two of you?"

At that Violet’s eyes snapped open and locked onto the maid with sudden and sharp interest, to her credit, the maid only slightly flinched at the sudden shift in attitude before relaxing back into her professional manner.

"Yes please! A bath sounds nice! Make it nice and warm please!" Then without waiting for the maid to even move she jumped up, still very naked and stretched herself out fully. Her back popping slightly as she arched it.

The maid then made her way to the second door and disappeared within, a moment later the sound of water rushing into a tub could be heard.

The girls then enjoyed a delightful bath, the maid even assisting in washing and then drying Violet’s unruly hair.

The two then dressed, Violet going for her now standard black and purple kimono, its cut perfectly accentuating her curvy figure.

Luna meanwhile opted for a more casual dress of mainly white but with blue flowers embroidered down its length.

Once dressed the maid, who had introduced herself as Elizabeth led them through the labyrinthine corridors of the palace. If it weren’t for the two companions powerful peak tier 4 minds, they would have undoubtedly become hopelessly lost in its numerous twists and turns.

Eventually the maid stopped before a door, with a gentle knock she opened the door and curtsied once again before gesturing for the girls to enter.

With a quick word of thanks they walked past the maid and entered into a fairly grand dinning room. A long table dominated the centre of the room with rows of chairs lining the sides of it.

Along the walls of the room painting depicting the founding of Syan were hung. They showcased grand wars and battles against man and beast alike, at the forefront stood a much younger yet familiar snow leopardkin. The man who was the current king of Syan.

Speaking off the current king, he himself was seated at the head of the table, he wore formal clothing in regal blue yet no crowd adorned his head this morning.

Besides him sat an elderly woman, she seemed to be the Kings wife so although they likely were the same age, given the kings tier 5 nature she showed her advanced age much more prominantly. Still she was clearly at peak tier 4 herself and was no weak individual despite her age.

On the kings other side sat Masin, he smiled at the two companions as they entered.

Then besides Masin sat the only other sovereign of Syan still alive, a gruff and well built woman that clearly was some kind of bearkin.

Then a few other officials and high ranking lords sat, along with Violet and Luna’s friends, sans Virthax who was likely resting within Olivia’s soul.

The two stood in momentairy silence as all eyes turned to face them upon their entrance, neither girl speaking as they in turn carefully observed everyone present.

The silence was broken with the scraping of a chair as the king pushed back his and stood up. He then seemed to shock most people present when he gave the two girls a bow of respect as he greeted them.

Everyone else at the table rushing to follow suit, well everyone bar Rhyana, Susan and Olivia. Well Olivia looked to have wanted to stand up and bow when she saw everyone else do so but was stopped when Susan gently placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Ahh Lady Violet, Lady Luna. Once again, as King of Syan I want to thank you both for your timely assistance yesterday. I dread to imagine what could have befallen our city had you not arrived when you had with your army. So, please, accept my heartfelt thanks."

Violet was momentarily surprised at the kings words failing to form a coherent response, so Luna stepped forwards and answered in her stead.

"There is no need your highness. We have our own issues with the kingdom, we just recently returned after causing some chaos within their borders when we heard of the incoming army. We managed to recruit some help along the way to assist you and to reunite with our friends who were residing within your walls." As she finished she made a gesture towards their three friends sitting to one side.

The King smiled, then gestured to the seats at the opposite end from him as he sat down himself, the rest of the room returning to their own seats.

"Please join us, my staff have prepared a feast for us this morning. I think we all deserve a hearty meal after yesterdays exertions."

Violet glanced at the two seats that had been situated at the far end of the table, they had been somewhat squished together, the table clearly not designed to accommodate two people sitting at a single end. Yet they had clearly not wanted to cause any issues by forcing the companions to decide who sat at the end in the seat of honour.

It was a small gesture, but one that they both appreciated.

They swiftly sat down, and as they adjusted the seats and settled down. The king rang a small bell on the table before him, a moment later one of the doors at the side of the room was pushed open and a small army of servants entered into the room carrying a seemingly endless assortment of food.

From a dozen different meats, to fish, to vegetables that had been roasted, boiled, steamed and sautéed. To even items of food that Violet had no name for, it was a true feast.

The servants then laid the food out in the middle of the table, each dish held appropriate items for self serving the food, from large spoons to tongs.

When the last dish was laid out and the servants had poured a drink for all present the king raised his glass and spoke.

"I propose a toast before we all dig in." Violet paused in extending her hand towards a dish laden with various sausages as she looked up sheepishly at the king.

"To the brave men and women who defended our city, to victory against the Kingdom! And to new friends that aided us in our time of need. Now let’s all eat shall we!"

Like that the silence broke as everyone present seemed to forget propriety as they all began to dig into the mountains of food laid out before them.

Violet seemed to completely forget any of the lessons regarding etiquette that had been thought to her as she began tearing into whatever she could get her hands on.

Every dish was made by the best chefs of the city, utilising might level beast meat and magical flora. Whilst not quite at the level of the meal that the two companions experienced in Sonantis at the fancy restaurant.

It was still without a doubt the second best meal that the two girls had ever experienced. Each mouthful was bursting with flavour and mana alike.

The two dug in, enjoying the initial reward for defending the city of Syan from the Kingdom of Eldor.